Joseph Haleman
Joseph Haleman was born on October 12th, 1995 in Lexington, Virginia. He has been through more than his share of tragedies which have only served as a catalyst for him to go from shy and quiet kid to strong and articulate young man. Biography Early Life Joseph was born to parents who encouraged his creativity and individuality. His father (FC: Eric Victorino) taught him how to play guitar, drums, ukulele, bass, piano, and tambourine at a very young age, and his mother (FC: Sarah Collins) taught him to enjoy literature, which was where his love of writing and reading came from. He and his parents moved to Greensville, North Carolina when he was three years old due to his father getting a better job offer there. After his father died of complications from battling lupus his whole life, Joseph continued to play and write music in his memory as he began to take care of his mother who fell into a deep depression. He was only nine years old. Meeting James The year after Joseph's father passed away, a new family moved into town: The Houstons. It was a small town, and people talked. Joseph became intrigued by the stories he heard of the family's young son, who was just a year older than him. He ran into James (literally) one afternoon and felt an instant connection to the strange boy, even with his odd aversion to all modern technology. Though he was young, he knew that this new friendship was a turning point in his life. Soon after they met, playdates were made and the two were inseparable. GHS Years Ninth Grade High school was difficult for Joseph as he tried desperately to fit in with his peers. His love of theatrical makeup and clothing made him stand out, however, and become a target for bullies. He was tormented daily along with James but he tried not to let it bother him as he continued to experiment with makeup and Victorian-era clothing with his best friend. Freshman year was also the year his mother started to show signs of recovering from the deep depression she had fallen into when her beloved husband had died, and Joseph came to the realization that he was in love with James. Tenth Grade As his feelings for James were becoming more and more difficult to hide, Joseph hit a growth spurt and soon towered over most of his classmates. His lanky frame made him feel more awkward than ever and he spent most of his time after school at the bookstore or at the record store. There between the old and dusty vinyl, he fell in love with The Beatles and changed his style of clothing. Though he was still made fun of by his classmates, the makeup was gone and in its place was a new way of thinking: Let It Be. Joseph ended up admitting to James how he felt about him and they began to date which did not seem to surprise people at school or their parents. However, their relationship came to a close in the middle of the school year as James and his family abruptly moved back to England. Rather than face school by himself and see James' empty house every time he walked home, Joseph begged his now healthy mother to let him go back to Virginia with his aunt to finish the school year. His mother, seeing how truly heartbroken he was, made arrangements and sent him on his way. Once in Virginia, he attended therapy to help with the old suicidal thoughts that stemmed from his father's death and got through it with the help of new friends from school. Joseph also had a short-lived relationship with one of his childhood friends named Sonny, and ended up losing his virginity to her after a music festival a few months later. They had a clean breakup and decided they were better as friends than anything else. Eleventh Grade At the beginning of Joseph’s junior year, he moved back to Greensville to be with his mother, who had fallen ill once more. After spending all of his free time back in Virginia helping his aunt on the organic farm she ran, Joseph had filled out and he was barely recognizable from the shy and tiny 14 year old boy his old classmates remembered. Returning to school in Greensville was a complete relief to him as he realized that no one wanted to bully him anymore. His kind and helpful nature made him more friends that year than he'd ever thought he'd have, though he still missed James and what could have been. He started dating for the first time in over a year (Constance Fitzroy) and tried his best to leave the past behind. That all changed when James moved back to Greensville and Joseph fell in love with him all over again. Joseph ended the relationship he was in and picked up where he had left off with James, feeling the happiest he had been in a long time. During a weekend when James had to go back to England, Joseph planned a romantic date for his return and climbed a tree at one of their secret spots to hang Christmas lights in order to surprise James. He slipped and fell, hitting his head which resulted in amnesia. He wandered the woods for days in a confused state before a man found him and took him to the hospital. Upon being reunited with those he knew, he did not recognize anyone including his own mother and a very distraught James. Weeks later he was taken back to the place he hit his head and somehow recovered his memory. However, to this day, he does not remember the block of time he lost whilst he had amnesia and only has other people's accounts of what happened to go on. A month after the recovery of his memory, James asked Joseph to move in with him into a house that would be their own and he did so willingly with the help of his mother who was seemingly back to normal. A week later she died from an undetected brain aneurysm that had ruptured. Joseph found her on her bedroom floor when he went to visit her one day after school, clutching a locket that his father had given her for their anniversary. He was destroyed by the guilt he felt at not being there to find her earlier which could have resulted in saving her, and fled to Virginia after her funeral without telling James what had happened or where he was going. A week later he showed up on the doorstep of their home and begged for forgiveness, finally telling James what had transpired. His aunt spoke to a court and was granted permission to let Joseph finish his senior year at GHS whilst living under James' roof as a means of avoiding the pain of having to be separated from him again at such a vulnerable time. Twelfth Grade A month and a half after the death of his mother, Joseph finally began to feel the strain of keeping up a falsely happy front and could feel his mask of sanity slipping. As much as he wanted to seek shelter within his boyfriend and confidante, James was dealing with his own issues and Joseph soon found himself being shut out and feeling isolated. The return of his depression coupled with nightmares and his broken heart served as a final push to send him into the darkest place he'd ever been, and he attempted to commit suicide. After James found him on the bathroom floor and called 911, Joseph spent a week in the hospital under suicide watch. During that excruciating week, he not only had to battle his own demons, but he learned a shocking secret about James that would forever alter his perspective on things. Once he was back at home with him, Joseph attended at-home therapy sessions and homeschooled, still too fragile to return to regular classes. It was during his recovery that he surprised James with his mother's promise ring, bestowing it upon him as a means of assuring him that he would stick around this time, for better or for worse. Only months later however, Joseph relapsed and began to find any little thing to fight over, feeling that he was not good enough of a partner for James, and that along with the insecurities James had caused them to break up a total of four times in the span of two months, including a broken engagement. Knowing that their on again/off again relationship was toxic for them both, James decided to move back to England in order to heal. Joseph moved into his own apartment and tried to learn how to be alone, which was something he'd never had to deal with. After talking on and off for weeks and accidentally sleeping together at a party Joseph was DJing, James sat down with Joseph and gave him an ultimatum: one last chance, flaws and all, or sever all ties. Joseph tentatively accepted, knowing that things would not be half as easy this time around, but also knowing that never seeing him again was not an option. He sold his father's secret beach house and used the money to buy himself an old house in town to fix up, knowing that for the time being it was better to live apart than together, at least until they were both healed and ready to move forward in their relationship. Post GHS Upon graduating high school, Joseph and his band took an opportunity to go on a six week tour with Mykah Garcia's father as well as two other support bands. The tour served as a platform to make connections with other well known musicians and to get their music out there. Upon his arrival home, it was clear that the tour had been yet another turning point in Joseph's life as he and his band mates prepared to record their debut album. Joseph proposed to James a few weeks after his return, and things were finally starting to look up until James realized he had grown tired of living in Greensville and wished to go back home. Joseph made the decision to leave with him, and both moved to England a week after their engagement. From there, Joseph was still able to work on his music from home and make trips out to the States every other month. Relationships James Houston The first friend Joseph ever made, and Joseph’s first true love. Essentially, the only person on Earth who knows everything about him. They met in elementary school and though they haven’t been completely inseparable since then, they have a knack for finding their way back to each other. Secretly, Joseph wants to marry him, but will never ask because he knows he promised Laurin he’d never get married. (FC: Brendon Urie) Tesoro Collins-Haleman A spunky, upbeat girl that Joseph's Aunt Camille and Uncle Manuel adopted at the beginning of the summer of 2014. She moved into Joseph's house with her older sister Dahlia to take care of it and upkeep its maintenance for the school year due to the fact that he relocated to England with James and did not wish to sell the house he had worked so hard to remodel. He is very protective over her, as she is now officially his youngest cousin. (FC: Melanie Martinez) Constance Fitzroy The first person Joseph ever loved after James left. They dated for a few months during Joseph's junior year and though Joseph was never in love with her, he loved her more than he ever thought possible for someone with a heart as broken as his. He occasionally finds himself wondering if they can ever be friends again and if she is okay. (FC: Sky Ferreira) Laurin Fitzroy The little bunny that Joseph has always felt a need to protect (even when he was dating her sister), especially now that she feels like she's losing her family. Joseph empathizes with her as she fears the constant changes that get more apparent with each day. In some way he sees her as a daughter as he tries his best to make her smile and chase away the tears when they fall. He is especially protective of her when she is around Edric. (FC: Hannah Murray) Gabriella Reed The first high school friend Joseph made. Whilst other kids in his class thought he was an emo freak, Gabby was always warm and welcoming. He hasn’t hung out with her in ages but he’ll never forget her kindness and willingness to open up to him. (FC: Elizabeth Gillies) Cooper Tracy The friend he has manly sleepovers with. Cooper was there when James left and always listened eagerly to Joseph’s words about life, film, and music. He was there through Joseph’s transition from young boy to young man and still remembers how difficult everything used to be for him. Joseph considers him a brother, and he still links anything cat or bubble related to Cooper, even with the changes in him that were obvious upon his return from modeling camp. (FC: Josh Hutcherson) Brittany Simmons Yet another friend Joseph considers a sibling. They first bonded over having lost a parent, and Joseph feels a need to protect and defend her against the world. She gives Joseph a safe place to talk and express himself. He’s proud of how far she’s come and how talented she is with her art. (FC: Charlavail Effron) Rae Collins The “raenbow” in Joseph’s life. Always armed with a smile and kind words to take on the world, Rae always has the ability to make Joseph smile. Her personality being infectious, he can’t help but to feel like every little thing is gonna be okay when he’s near her. (FC: Leda Muir) Ally Viveros Joseph’s musical soul sister. There’s no one he can talk to about music, or share songs/albums/artists with like he can with Ally. She is the one he turns to when he’s had a bad day and just needs to unwind and hear a happy story. (FC: Bethany Mota) Avery Bronze The person who pulled Joseph out of his depression even when he had plenty of issues of his own. Joseph will always be grateful to him, as he was around to keep his mind off of things when James first left. He is a poetic riot when he’s high, and he draws amazing lighthouse homes. (FC: Gerard Way) Jade Miller No matter how down and out Joseph feels, he knows he can talk to Jade about it. The girl has been through it all, and though she's cynical in nature, her presence actually helps whenever he's with her. She visited him in the hospital when he thought he was beyond repair and he'd thought of giving up on life, convincing him instead to hold on. (FC: Britt Robertson) Coraline Hallow Though Joseph feels awkward talking about sexual ventures with everyone else, things are different when it comes to talking about them with Cora. He feels comfortable and open whenever he's with her (not to mention the time she talked him out of committing suicide!), and for that reason he considers her a safe person to be around. He enjoys her company, and in addition, enjoys how happy she keeps James when he's in one of his moods. (FC: Aubrey Plaza) Eva Cárdenas As the person who "adopted" James when he had no place to go, Joseph admires Eva the most out of the few grown adults now left in his life. Though he used to hear awful things about her as principal of GHS, he never believed any of them. He always thought her to be misunderstood and disliked for petty reasons from his peers. His initial thoughts were proven to be right as he came to spend more time around her. (FC: Lana Parilla) Physical Appearance Joseph is tall and slender, with just the slightest dusting of muscle. His dark hair is long on top and short on the sides, and is usually pushed back and held up with styling wax. He prefers skinny jeans and t-shirts over everything else, and can be often seen with his favorite leather jacket. He currently has three tattoos and intends on getting more. His face claim is Ryan Ross. Tumblr mssr4qxeCc1sw0glyo1 500.jpg|The tattoos he has on his wrists (explained in additional facts section below). d85af2b347134e2184361f9fdb34e7bc.jpg|The tattoo he has on his right arm (explained in additional facts section below). tumblr_lnvu3rILo91qzabkfo1_500.jpg|The tattoo he has on his side (explained in additional facts section below). tumblr_ms71leVFzv1sx6swro1_1280.jpg|With co-workers and friends in Virginia. mk.png Tumblr ms85vuzCPw1qavnvoo1 1280.jpg tumblr_mapw4ewEAr1rdrky0o1_500.jpg|Joseph before a hockey game. tumblr_msqvkmtUw01r3u4qmo1_1280.jpg|Joseph with a hockey team mate. tumblr_mwcsvfTVnW1sfw1spo5_500.jpg|Joseph with fellow musician, Michael. tumblr_msc4fclQKM1sfw1spo1_1280.png|Joseph with two cousins from Virginia. tumblr_mpaquwP1KP1rkvjw5o1_1280.jpg 2zz7tw1.jpg|Jameseph Additional Facts *His favorite scent is a mixture of paperback books and lavender, which is what James always smells like. *He is on both the high school track team and an after school hockey team. *He knows some Spanish which he learned from a co-worker back at the farm in Virginia. *His most prized possession is his father's old standing piano which James recently had restored due to someone breaking into his old home and destroying it. *He is quite skilled at not only music, but carpentry, and has built a full sized aviary with his own two hands as well as various pieces of furniture. *He got his wrist tattoos in Virginia during the summer between sophomore and junior year of high school. "Mad As A Hatter" on his right wrist represents James and "Thin As A Dime" on his left wrist represents himself. The lyrics come from the song "Diamonds and Gold" by Tom Waits, which his father used to sing to him as a small child. *The whale tattoo on his upper right arm is in memory of his father who always wanted to go whale watching but never got to. Whales are also Joseph's favorite animal. *His third tattoo are lyrics from "Alexithymia" by Anberlin. He got this tattoo as a way to mark the beginning of his recovery from depression when he was finally put on medication and vowed to continue therapy.